My last week of work at Disney!

Yesterday (Monday) was bit of an emotional roller coaster of a day. I was put in a bad mood in the morning when my alarm didn't go off because of the silly iPhone bug, but I managed to wake up and get ready just about in time to get the bus. My Navigo needed renewing for my final week so I got on the bus and made a 'beep' sound to get away with it, and went to renew my Navigo when the bus got to Val d. I was then put in a good mood when I discovered I had exactly €16.95 in my purse - the amount I needed to renew my Navigo. However I was quickly put back into a bad mood when the machine ripped my 5 Euro note in half and I couldn't use it, so I had to pay with my card instead which was annoying. When I got to work I found out I was Chip in Frontierland, which was okay, and my morning went fine, I was just with my Dale and a Pluto. We hid behind a bush for a bit at the beginning of one of our sets to see how long it took for the guests to notice us and mob us (about 2 minutes).

At lunchtime I went to Imaginations and the sweetie man was there who only comes once a month - I filled up a bag with sweets and went to pay, and was put in a good mood when it was only €2.42 and the man was happy to accept my 5 Euro note in two pieces! From there I went to the Baloo building to collect another pay cheque for about €300, however the man said he couldn't give it to me because I did a no show on 27th December. He is right that I wasn't in work but that is because it was a day off on my schedule! He told me to go and talk to some 'Thierry' guy in EPC to sort it out, which was annoying so I was a bit stressed, but I was sure that they would be able to tell that I had 'repos' (day off) on my schedule and I would be able to be paid. When I got to EPC it was nearly time to go back to work, so I put my costume on and decided I would see Thierry another time, however our ACC was on DOUD so whilst he told a Team Leader I had time to see this Thierry man. Thierry could not speak a single word of English and told me he refuses to speak to me if I don't speak French (even though half of the department he works in is English!). I tried my best to explain in French but he kept shrugging, luckily Cyril, my trainer from the first week, turned up and helped to translate. Thierry printed off a schedule which said that I was supposed to be at work on the 27th and said if I had any issues to take it up with planning, which I did. The lady in planning said 'planning is never wrong' even though I checked my schedule three times that week to be sure I had the 26th and 27th off, and I even went to Character 1 when the planning went up and said that I had three days off that week (26th, 27th and 1st), and they just said that it was unusual but it is probably because it is New Year and just to stick to it, so I did. Planning took me to Character 1, who told me I was lying and I had written it down wrong, and I asked where the piece of paper from the wall is that I would have seen, and was greeted with a shrug and 'in the bin'. I was so stressed out by this point because I really need my money and can't afford to lose €50 because of a mistake made by work, so I started to cry, and the lady from planning and the guy from Character 1 just looked at each other and smirked. It was so embarrassing and totally infuriating that they really had absolutely no interest in what I had to say!

I went back to find my Pluto and Dale, who were still waiting for an ACC. By this point it had been nearly an hour and a half without an ACC so we assumed we weren't needed for the afternoon and got changed. As I was taking my head back, a Team Leader came and found me and told me off for getting changed without permission and said we should have got on the bus and we did have an ACC. The ACC we supposedly had definitely didn't come and find us, and I told him this, and was greeted with the Parisian shrug yet again. He said there was no time to do any more sets so it was okay this time to get changed. I was pleased because I wanted to go back to Baloo to plead my case with the guy giving out the cheques.

Back at Baloo, I assured the man that the only day I have missed work is 25th December and I called Character 1 that morning to let them know. He obviously felt sorry for me so he said that he will pay me for the 27th anyway and gave me my cheque for €308 - I was so relieved! I know for sure in a lot of other jobs, if you had a problem it would be listened to and investigated - I cannot imagine any of my previous managers greeting me with a shrug and saying 'you are wrong'. It really was terrible.

I also found out that a guy from EPC had died that morning of an epileptic fit. I didn't know him but I knew who he was, and it is quite a horrible thought when you've seen someone walking around work every day and he suddenly dies like that.

Luckily some friends and I had planned to go to Buffalo Bills that night so I had something to look forward to to cheer me up.

We turned up at 8.30pm and were able to get tickets at the Cast Member price of €24.50 (the usual price is €59-€71 so we saved a lot). This includes a three course meal plus crisps and bread, unlimited beer and coke, coffee and of course the show and a cowboy hat. It was an excellent night and we ate loads - our team (the green team) won! Afterwards we headed to L'Agape where loads of people from EPC were singing karaoke. I didn't want to spend any money and I was tired and full, so I didn't drink anything and only stayed for about an hour and a half. I walked home on my own because they others stayed, but I called Ed for the walk and got home safely.

After a dramatic day yesterday, I'm glad I had a relatively normal one today. I got to work and found I was King Louie from the Jungle Book. I haven't played him yet so I was really pleased I get to squeeze him in before I leave. I got my ACC to take a couple of pics on set (see pic). His arms are really long so you hold poles in the arms, which means you can't sign autographs. I loved that, as I could focus on playing around and posing for photos. In the afternoon I had a Baloo for two of my sets, and he was really nice. We tried to get the guests to dance with us but most of them just didn't understand and stood there staring at us holding out their autograph books. We had fun anyway!

I'm having a quiet night in tonight as I want to be refreshed tomorrow so I can enjoy my very last day of work at Disneyland Paris!

xxx